Built-In Self-Test (BIST) for Multi-Threshold NULL Convention Logic (MTNCL) Circuits

This dissertation proposes a Built-In Self-Test (BIST) hardware implementation for Multi-Threshold NULL Convention Logic (MTNCL) circuits. Two different methods are proposed: an area-optimized topology that requires minimal area overhead, and a test-performance-optimized topology that utilizes parallelism and internal hardware to reduce the overall test time through additional controllability points. Furthermore, an automated software flow is proposed to insert, simulate, and analyze an input MTNCL netlist to obtain a desired fault coverage, if possible, through iterative digital and fault simulations. The proposed automated flow is capable of producing both area-optimized and test-performance-optimized BIST circuits and scripts for digital and fault simulation using commercial software that may be utilized to manually verify or adjust further, if desired

Reducing energy usage of NULL Convention Logic circuits using NULL Cycle Reduction combined with supply voltage scaling

The NULL Cycle Reduction (NCR) technique can be used to improve the performance of the NULL Convention Logic (NCL) circuit at the expense of power and area. However, by decreasing the supply voltage of certain components, the power of the NCR circuit can be reduced. Since NCR has increased performance, it could be possible to decrease the power while maintaining the original performance of the circuit. To verify this, the NCR circuit will be implemented using a 4-bit by 4-bit dual-rail multiplier as the test circuit. This circuit will be simulated in ModelSim to ensure functionality, synthesized into a Verilog netlist using Leonardo, and imported into Cadence to perform transistor-level simulations for power calculations. The supply voltage of the duplicated circuits will be decreased until the performance matches the design of the original multiplier, resulting in overall lower energy usage

Pre-treatment and extraction techniques for recovery of added value compounds from wastes throughout the agri-food chain

The enormous quantity of food wastes discarded annually force to look for alternatives for this interesting feedstock. Thus, food bio-waste valorisation is one of the imperatives of the nowadays society. This review is the most comprehensive overview of currently existing technologies and processes in this field. It tackles classical and innovative physical, physico-chemical and chemical methods of food waste pre-treatment and extraction for recovery of added value compounds and detection by modern technologies and are an outcome of the COST Action EUBIS, TD1203 Food Waste Valorisation for Sustainable Chemicals, Materials and Fuels